Triathlons: One Greater Than Three?

I’ve been directly involved with only one triathlon, the Westchester Tri in 2007, in which I ran the running leg. It was fun and I have a lot of respect for those who did it. And I know a number of folks who do triathlons and enjoy them. As I just noted on my original post, the run leg was lengthened.

I’ve also commented on Competitors.com, which has great interviews with runners, cyclists, and triathletes. I found one with members of the US team — they do Olympic-distance tris particularly interesting because of their separation from those who do Ironman, and as I noted, “One of the hosts noted that lots of triathletes get into a comfort zone of doing Ironmans and don’t like the tempoish effort required for a half-Ironman, let alone the gut-wrenching encountered in an Olympic distance, which is about a 1K swim, 40K ride, and 10K run.”

In Kona 2008 Wellington — she’s no. 101 and would run a 2:57:44 marathon — survived a flat, begging other riders for I don’t know what, in which she had to wait, and wait, and wait. And she was pissed. Check out Belinda Granger’s double take (No. 109) at 7:20:

I know what you’re thinking. Is he going over to the dark side? Not to worry. I really can’t swim so that’s no happening. I’ve been a decent cyclist, but I’ve not given serious thought to duathlons either. What’s the point?

It’s too easy to make fun of them, even easier than making fun of runners.

Here’s the thing. I don’t get it. How can they train to race? I’m not talking about the pros. Sure, if your objective is just to finish — no small accomplishment to be sure — then I guess it’s pretty simple. Put in the time, swim, ride, run, repeat. Do bricks (runs following a ride, for example).

If one assumes that the objective is to be the best athlete (racer/runner, competitor/completor) one can be, that objective requires lots of work for just the one sport. Six, seven runs a week. Long and short. Fast and not-so-fast. And a significant dose of recovery. Period I, period II, period III, period IV. Taper. Race. Rest. Six months for a single race if it’s the marathon you’re looking at.

In the Wellington interview, Babbit notes that one need not be a triathlete to do a triathlon and that it’s a big tent, etc. While that is great and all — the same can be said of marathoners of course — it’s an important distinction to make.

Here’s video of Scott v. Allen, discussed in detail in the interview with Scott:

NOTE: An interesting new comment and my response in the “One Foot In Front of the Other” post. In my response, I made a reference to a review of Netwons, in the context of the efficiency of forefoot striking. Brandon directed me to anotherNewton review, which I found useful. It says Newtons can make sense for certain runners, a sentiment with which I agree.

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14 comments

Joe, I dabbled in triathlons for a few years in the ’90s (started with swimming when injured from running).

I don’t get it either! I found it frustrating not to have the time to devote to swimming and biking to become “as good” a triathlete as I was a a runner. I’m an unnatural swimmer and would have had to spend untold hours at that discipline to become half decent.

Even though it was “fun” to come from behind with a fast run split, the overall placing was always disappointing. I’d be 50% down the field in a tri, compared to 15% down the field in a running race.

With running, at least it’s possible to get close to training like the pros do (if one is so inclined) – 80-100 miles a week, speedwork, tempo runs. Pro triathletes on the other hand, are spending 5 hours + a day training. A bit hard for a 9-5 worker to get close to that.

The big secret is that certain things are easier to do in one sport than another. For example, I do most of my pure endurance training on the bike, most of my intervals in the water and most of my resistance running. The fucked up part is that this rule varies person to person… So you have to find your own balance, a trainer can’t tell you, a book can’t tell you…

The simple truth is that some people (triathletes) like the change in scenery. It also gives people an opportunity to meet people they wouldn’t normally interact with (swimmers, cyclists, & runners). Combining the three disciplines helps prevent overuse injuries (not all the time), relieve boredom (most of the time), and creates new challenges to overcome (which some people cherish). Think of triathletes, at least decent age-groupers, and elites, as decathletes in track & field, good at a lot of things, but maybe not great at any of them. In the triathlon world they can succeed, whereas in the single sport world, not so much.

Hi Joe, as you’ve asked me to pop over and give you my thoughts I’m happy to oblige.
Just to put you in the picture though ………. I’m far from a serious athlete. I’m not coached, I don’t train in 4 week blocks, cycles or macro-cycles. For the effort I put in I’d be classed as one of the ‘arm-wavers’ who crosses the line happy with their day but who will probably never race the the best of their ability.
I can see why you have the thought you do, it’s not your sport. You’re a competitive runner but if you turned up at a triathlon you’d get your butt kicked. There’s a reason for that and it’s the reason I’m not sure I can give my thoughts. It’s because they are totally different sports. Triathlon is not running, it’s not cycling and it’s not swimming, it’s triathlon an individual sport in it’s own right. The idea is the same as any other ‘race’ and that’s to hit the Finish line as soon as possible. Does anybody ask Tom Pappas or Bryan Clay why they do the Decathlon instead of just one event?
To put it in perspective comparing Triathletes to Runners is like comparing Usain Bolt to Ryan Hall. Their events are a world apart in the same way as Triathlon and running are a world apart. Usain Bolts training will bear no resemblence to Ryan Halls. The ‘gut-wrenching’ power sprint training compared to the ‘comfort zone’ marathon training.
The stuff you see on TV of course is mostly down to how the TV companies want to portray things. You mentioned Ironman China which I know was the one with the winner walking (I’m a Tri nerd), but you didn’t mention that by the time the athletes reached the run course on that day the temperature was over 40C/105F, how many of us have run a Marathon in those temps especially with 6hrs of racing already in the legs? Ignore the swim/bike and just think of the time out there. Would you have to walk if you ran a 100mile race in that heat?
One thing I have heard from some of the A-type personalities in the sport is that when you’re purely a runner and you get injured then you’re screwed. Many of these can’t take being laid off from excercise to the swim or bike and the interest in the sport grows from there.

Thank you very much for your thoughtful response. As I was drafting a response to the effect that I think you missed my broader point, it dawned on me that while that may be true I might be missing a more important point. It’s worth further thought on my part and a post on the subject. I hope you return to see it.

i know i said i wouldn’t comment again. but it’s like a liberal listening to hannity reading your posts…when i do succumb to the unfortunate impulse, i can’t help but to spar.
well, i guess there are different ‘classes’ of marathoners. and some who hope ‘just to finish’. but i feel it’s rare the person who ‘races’ their best marathon (or any other race, for that matter) the first time around. and, the marathon is different from most other races in the time commitment involved to train. i personally think it would be absurd (and foolhardy) for a first-timer who’s been running 20ish mpw to hope to ramp up to the 70+ necessary to run ‘their best race’ in 6 mo’s time. the likelihood of injury is quite high, and i know of no coaches who would advocate that for most newcomers, even if talented. perhaps you differ.
i’ve read hundreds of training plans/blogs by now on the marathon, and seems like almost everyone improves with experience over time (as in most shorter distance races).
i guess what i’ve boiled down to is that even the ‘slowest’ people who target a marathon (similar to any other endurance event- like tri’s) usually put in a lot of effort to do the best they can given their fitness level. one improves from there. eg, in marathon, having built a larger training base, one can safely increase mpw afterward. but, i think it’s sad that most of the time i read your comments, they are very discouraging- at best condescending- and often downright disparaging, of people in the earlier stages of training for endurance events, or who are slower and are really trying to get better/faster. i consider myself among them.
you’ve professed to not care about such people- i suppose you wait til they’ve achieved some measure of ‘worthiness’ in your estimation..how on earth someone like you does that for triathlon is beyond me- tho perhaps it’s ‘do they run the same times in a tri as in a running race over same distance’? almost no one (even the pro’s) does that in a tri. or cycles what they might in a stand-alone race. perhaps the swim is closer. it’s a 3-sport race! but from personal experience, the extra fitness one gets from tri’s does improve one’s performance in a particular discipline. it may not be as much as what is ideal for that discipline, but is lower-impact, and less injury-prone for running. eg, i’ve improved more for 5/10k’s in my 30’s doing tri’s than for those as standalone races, not doing the optimum in prescribed running training- b/c then, i kept getting hurt.
and well, anyway. triathlons are fun. that’s why so many people are doing them. many active people did more than one sport when young in the course of a day, so it’s not that weird to be interested in tri’s. kind of like taking swimming lessons in the am, then soccer practice in the pm.

I fear you somewhat misunderstand me. I believe that if one is a racer, she should race her first marathon. I decidedly do not believe that someone should go from 20 mile weeks into a six-month plan for a marathon. When I ran my first marathon, I’d been running for 12 years and racing on the roads for over four, and not doing it on 20 miles a week but 50 or 60 including two speedworkouts a week for several years. I agree that people improve over time, but I don’t see improvement as an excuse for not trying one’s best from the start. If you read my discussions about the marathon, and especially reasons one should not do them, I try to make that clear.

It’s not fair to characterize me as disparaging slower runners. What I disparage is someone who thinks “I’m not fast and therefore it’s OK for me to accept a training program for slow people.” If nothing else I would expect you to appreciate my refusal to patronize in that way. I regret if I’m discouraging since one of my purposes is to be the opposite, to say if you train to be the best runner (or whatever) you can be you’re just as much a runner as anyone else. I read blogs from people who aren’t fast but who train very hard and intelligently to be their fastest and I have nothing but respect — well, perhaps a bit of awe — for their efforts. That’s the level of “worthiness” that I respect. And I’ve always respected you as a runner.

As to triathlons, I realize they’re fun. I have a follow-up piece here. My point here was that given the effort required to run at one’s best, I find it hard to get my mind around the notion of doing the same for three sports. The point of this post was not to disparage triathletes but to express my thoughts on the topic.

lol- i’m content to be a ‘runner’ or even ‘jogger,’ esp if ‘racer’ requires that i discriminate against a significant portion of the running community. i can identify w/folks who struggle to get a workout in btwn various unrelenting demands on their time (incl work environs where being fit or even having a hobby is looked down upon as ‘indulging in too much leisure time’ that would be better spent on the job). i can also identify w/people for whom running is just an ‘enjoyable pastime.’ or those who are surmounting a particular challenge; eg, i’m the same ‘runner’/person i was 2-3 years ago when i struggled to finish 27 min 5k’s after my son was born. perhaps i’ve run faster on other occasions, but the effort was the same. or even more so, when less fit/injured.
so. that may be the extent of it. i’m more interested in the ‘big tent’ than the small part of it you feel is privileged enough to be ‘worthwhile.’

One comment. I’ll be on RunnersRoundTable next week on the topic of Competing vs. Completing, the idea being whether slow marathoners are ruining the sport. There was a link to a 2007 article on the Chicago Marathon (which was stopped because of the heat) in which it turns out I made a few comments, including.

Some of us [i.e., those in the top 10%] diminish the efforts of the 90%ers. But most don’t as long as the guys towards the back have done the work. It’s the people who decide to run a marathon, do a few 10 or 15 milers, and jog through the race for whom we have no respect, because those people do not, as we say, respect the distance.

But as I’ve become more involved in my Club, I see more and more slower runners who put in just as much effort, and often more (it takes a while to run 20 at a 9 or 10 minute pace), than I do and are as dedicated to their own objectives of finishing well as I am. Long runs, tempo runs, intervals. They do them all.

We recognize that we don’t all start at the same point in terms of ability, and that there are plenty of runners who are faster than we are. I like to think that for most of us it’s not where you start but where you finish in terms of respect, and by that I mean what you do and how you do with the talent you have.

Members of Sound Shore were on my mind when I wrote this; I learned much from seeing the attitude of many of them.